


A Long Time

by Anniecat



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, band au, i swear it's not as sad as my other one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-26
Updated: 2014-11-28
Packaged: 2018-02-22 16:25:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2514272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anniecat/pseuds/Anniecat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Sorry if there's typos, I typed this fast at 1 am. Oh, and follow my tumblr, farewellpercy.tumblr.com</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if there's typos, I typed this fast at 1 am. Oh, and follow my tumblr, farewellpercy.tumblr.com

Will was not the type of person you'd expect going to a Bleeding Angels concert. He was almost always happy, fed the birds at parks, and for goodness sake, he was the nurse they called in to cheer people up. Yet on Friday, October 25, after his shift at the hospital, he was driving to The Maramount, a concert venue in the city.  
Will didn't actually like their music. It wasn't bad, just not his style. The real reason he was going was for their electric violinist, Nico di Angelo.  
He knew Nico from camp when they were 14. Nico had fallen during a game of Capture the Flag with a neighboring camp, and had to go to the infirmary to get his leg stitched up. Will's father was the camp doctor(it was a pretty good camp), and Will had opted out of Capture the Flag(it too violent for Will's liking), so he was hanging around the infirmary office playing on his phone. He heard the door swing open, and Nico was carried in. His leg was sliced open, probably on a rock, with a pretty deep gash. Gallons of blood had been pouring out of his leg in the 5 minutes it took to get to infirmary, and Nico was about to faint. But, with a tourniquet, Will's dad was able to lessen the blood loss.  
It turned out that Nico had ripped an artery beyond repair, and had to have his leg amputated. That summer, Nico and Will became good friends, as Will's dad had enlisted him to help Nico with adjusting to his new prosthetic. On the last day, Nico had taken Will to the gazebo, right before his father was supposed to come, revealed that he had a crush on Will, and Will, being the flustered 14-year-old he was, had fallen silent. Mortified, Nico ran, or, walked very fast(his prosthetic was not easy to run in) to his dad's car, which promptly drove off before Will could tell him the feeling was mutual.  
When he was 16, he found Nico's facebook again, and discovered that he played the electric violin in a band, the Bleeding Angels. The band took off with the punk-rock crowd, and soon Nico was touring around America with the rest of his band.  
They were both 24 now, and Bleeding Angels was on their 5th tour, this one worldwide now. Will decided the only way he was ever going to see Nico again was if he went to his concerts, since after his band took off he deleted his facebook. So  
On his long drive to the theatre, Will took time to ponder the possibilities of Nico ACTUALLY seeing Will. Pretty slim, he decided. But if there was any chance of telling the one legged boy how he really felt, he was going to take it. He had been relying on his phone for directions, and it beeped with the notification that he had reached the Maramount.  
The Maramount was shoved between a music store and a boutique, which Will guessed was for the purpose of fans trying to act like their favorite band. Across the street was a parking garage, and since WIll didn't see any other cheap options, he drove in.  
__________________________________________________  
By the time he had searched for a spot and descended seven flights of stairs, it was 30 minutes before the concert. Will really didn't care about being there on time, but he knew that the Maramont didn't let anyone in after the show was 10 minutes in. Will cursed himself for not remembering to eat beforehand, but didn't want to risk never seeing Nico again, so he got in line whilst his stomach growled.  
Although Will had worn his darkest clothes, he still looked like a daisy in a field of black roses amongst the Bleeding Angels' fans with his blond hair and bright blue eyes. In fact, the girl that had entered the line behind him had stared at him like he was from another planet until Will asked her if she was okay.  
"Um, yeah, but I don't understand why the living embodiment of a sunflower is attending a Bleeding Angels concert." Her black lips stayed slightly open at the end in a mocking way.  
"Well, you know how their violinist is missing a leg? Well, my little sister is missing an arm and she really looks up to him, so I promised her I'd get his autograph for her because our dad deemed the concert 'not appropriate for a 12-year-old.'" Will lied, already have rehearsed his "reason" of going. The girl's lips turned slightly upward, more that they had in a while, Will guessed.  
"Wow, that's actually pretty cool. I thought you were one of those weird fakes that hang around. I'm Cynthia, by the way." She reached out her pale hand, which was covered with white makeup, towards Will, who gladly shook it and smiled.  
“Will.”  
They continued talking for about twenty minutes until they reached the ticket booth. The guy at the booth droned “Ticket?” Will slid him his printed one, which the worker begrudgingly stamped. He moved on to Cynthia, gesturing for her to hand him her ticket.  
“I actually need to buy one.” The man shook his head.  
“We’ve been sold out for 10 minutes. Sorry, sweetheart.” A look of despair crossed her face.Will looked at her disappointed eyes, and at his stamped piece of paper.He shoved it into her hands.  
“Take mine. You probably like them more than I do.”  
“But your sister…” SHe said, worried. Will waved his hand.  
“Ehh, you don’t need to have a ticket for autographs after the show. I’ll be fine.” She stared at him gratefully, thanked him seven times, then entered the theater. It was 7:00, and the show was about to start. Will looked around. “What should I do for an hour and a half?” he mused.  
____________________________________________________________  
Will had discovered an ice cream parlor that made it right in the building three blocks away. He sat in their couch, explaining he was waiting for someone to get out of a concert, and they nodded politely. Finally, 9:15 rolled by, and Will made his way back to the Maramount. The ticket booth guy recognized him from earlier and let him inside the building.  
Hundreds of fans were inside, waiting for the band to come out for signings. Will overheard a gaggle of girls whispering about how hot the violinist was, which made Will chuckle a little bit. Although he was towards the back of the line, Will was able to tell when the band had come out when he heard the roars from the crowd.  
An hour after the cheers(It was 10:30 now and Will just remembered he had work in the morning), he was close enough to see Nico, who was about 14 people ahead of him. No matter how close he was, though, Nico only made eye contact with the paper he was signing and the fan whom it belonged to. It was when he was this close that he realized, Nico might not remember him.  
It happened ten years ago and Will had probably broken his heart at the time, giving Nico good reason to forget Will. As the guy in front of him’s chains jingled with each movement, Will was seeing more and more fault with his plan. After 5 more minutes, the guy’s chains jingled one more time to walk away. Nico had broken eye contact with that guy and met Will’s eyes.  
The look he saw from Nico was strange. His eyes looked full of false passion with seeing him, a look he probably gave all of his fans. Yet Will felt oddly comforted by it, warming his heart for a millisecond. And in that millisecond, Nico’s brown eyes narrowed with confusion at the sight of him.  
“Will.” Nico whispered.His band mates were preoccupied with their fans, so they didn’t notice Nico’s trance at seeing Will. He coughed. “I’m sorry, you probably don’t remember me, but I went to camp with you, like, 10 years ago, I was that kid who had his leg…”  
“Cut off.”Will finished, which ameliorated Nico’s worried look. “Yeah, I remember. That’s actually why I came out here tonight, to see you again.” Nico looked down and blushed, smiling slightly for a second, then returned his gaze to Will.  
“Really? Well, here I am!” Nico giggled like a schoolgirl at his little joke.  
“I,I wanted to make things right between us. Um, the reason I got so scared when you told me that you like me was because…”Will paused for a second. “I liked you back.” Nico’s eyes widened, then he pushed out of his chair and stood up. He leaned over the table and grabbed Will’s shirt, pulling him closer. Nico touched their lips together, which gained the interest of the others. Nico’s eyes were shut tight, probably trying to ignore the rude comments lurking about people’s conversations. They broke away, but Nico’s eyes were still filled with hope.  
“I’m sorry, I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.” he said ashamed. Will smiled.  
“Me too.”  
Nico took out a green sticky note from his pocket, scribbled something on it, and handed it to Will. “Here’s my cell. My tour ends in 8 days, text me.” Will put it in his jeans pocket.  
“Will do.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is from Nico's POV.

A day after the concert when the Maramount was finally struck, Nico happily placed his violin case back into the back of the bus, much more aloof than usual. That was probably because the only thing on his mind was Will Solace's dazzling smile as Nico gave him his personal phone number. Nico gave his case a forceful shove into the bus and climbed into the tour bus.

The Bleeding Angels' tour bus was pretty lush, but it was still a bus. The beds were crammed into the back, and there was only one bathroom. Their seats had become pretty worn by the second tour(It had to do with two of the band members having a really intense pillow fight with the cushions), and the windows were pretty dirty(The lead singer liked to press his feet to them), but Nico liked its weathering. It made it feel like a real home, unlike his apartment in LA. Nico only really used it as a place to sleep when he wasn't on tour. He sat down on one of the seats, picking up some song lyrics  he had been working on earlier. He heard the bus door open loudly, and Leo Valdez, the bass player, clambered in. "Yo, Neeks, heard you made out with a fan. And a dude fan, at that." His best friend, Jason Grace, followed him into the bus.

"He wasn't a fan, I used to know him. And yes, Valdez, a dude fan." Jason sighed.

"Leo, stop teasing Nico." He dictated. Jason had always been kind of a big brother to Nico. They were actually cousins, along with the absent vocalist Percy Jackson. Percy was the oldest, Jason following by just a year, then Nico 2 years after him. Percy and Jason were always rivaling for "Little Neeks'" affection when they were small, but as Percy got together with his girlfriend, he backed off of him. Nico used to think it was sweet, especially after his sister died, but now at 24, Nico found it quite irritating.

"S'fine, Jason, Valdez is just afraid of my secret powers given to me as a homosexual." Nico smirked. Leo narrowed his eyes, then sat in his usual spot discontentedly. Jason sat next to Nico, looking at the lyrics that Nico had began to work out.

"How does it go?" Jason asked with a much more serious demeanor.

"Huh?" Nico said, looking up from his inky pages. Jason pointed to them.

"Cosmos. What's the tune?" Nico reached for his normal violin that he kept under the seats. He began to pluck the strings with the violin sitting on his lap guitar style, whilst mumbling the lyrics. "And the cosmos may go by, testing, our hearts, and you'll be laughing, along. The stars will, find that, the place where you belong, is right there beside you if you just open your eyes..." The lyrics flowed on, Nico momentarily forgetting all about Will. "Just please tell me the way the wind blows for you, and maybe I'll go with you too..." Nico stopped abruptly, then next lyric not yet written. He expected at least one rude comment from Leo but silence. he looked up slowly as he saw Percy Jackson stare at him.

"Did you write that?" Percy asked slowly. Nico looked back down at his papers, nodding. "And that was you singing, correct?" Again, Nico nodded without eye contact. "Dude, you're great! Let's finish that song and use it next album, okay?" Nico finally looked up, seeing Percy's eager face. Nico shook his head. 

"Naw, it was written for your voice. I couldn't sing it, it wouldn't sound right..." Percy raised his brow, smirking slightly.

"Couldn't sing it? Neeks? You just _did_. I could never Trust me, I could never match that. This one's yours." Percy sat in the crevice between Nico and the wall, pressing the 24-year-old uncomfortably close to Jason. "Anyway, I heard about your kiss. It's all over our Facebook page," Percy had retrieved a Coke from the freezer and started to sip at it.

"What? The only people that saw that were at the signing. There wasn't even press there."

"Smartphones, Nico. And seeing the seemingly straight Nico di Angelo kiss another guy at a autograph signing is pretty substantial thing to see."  Nico looked down. "Anyway, who was he?" Nico's ears grew hot.

"He was no one. Just a fan" Percy laughed.

"That **natural blonde** was not a fan. Even so, you wouldn't just kiss a fan. So who was he?" The others focused on Nico expectantly, actually interesting in the answer. Nico cleared his throat.

"Um, I used to know him. We went to camp together when I was 14." The rest of the band fell silent. They knew his leg's, or lack there of, story, and also knew it was a touchy subject.

"So are you going to call him?" Jason asked. Nico leaned back and shrugged.

"I don't know, I gave him my number, so maybe." More awkward silence.

"Hey, let's work out some harmony for Cosmos. Sing it again." Jason reached for his guitar from the overhead, and fingered some chords while Nico sang.

"With your dark, dark heart, tearing out my eyes, and yuor twisted words, make your awful lies, while I lay here!" Jason managed to play the melody by ear, but his harmonics were a train wreck. Leo reached for Jason's guitar.

"No, something like this, Jay." He emitted a nice counter melody from the strings. "Sing it, Nico." Once again Nico chanted his lyrics, and Leo strummed along beautifully. Nico grinned.

"I like that. Try that in a different key with the bass, Leo." Leo happily picked up his guitar-like instrument and elaborated on his original tune, returning Jason's guitar to him. Jason tried to recreate Leo's arrangement to Nico's singing, but having major difficulty until Leo physically put Jason's fingers on the correct chords. Finally, Jason mastered it, and they began to play again, when it was cut off by the door opening again. Their manager, Steph, stormed in.

"Di Angelo. What. The hell. Was that." She demanded, her eyes teaming with fury. Nico took a deep breath and started to chew his lip.

"How bad is it?" He asked nervously. She pulled up a page on her tablet and showed it to Nico. "The tumblr account is on fire with hate."

"Wait, I thought tumblr was all pro-gay and shit." Percy said.

"They are, but they're classifying it as sexual assault. You need to make a formal apology to the man in the picture." Nico nodded, taking out his phone as he heard a notification jingle. It was a text from an unknown number.

 _"Hey, it's Will, I know you said 8 days but we're all over the news and shit. Do you know what's going on?"_ it read, and Nico discreetly tried to text him back the situation.

"We're also going to cancel San Diego, so we can take care of this without the publicity." Nico stopped typing.

"Wait, what? We're ending the tour early?" Steph nodded with a sheepish look.

"I think you'll be fine, Nico, you do live here." She reasoned, but Nico was still distraught.

"Um, that reminds me of something..." Percy spoke up. 

"Can it wait?" Steph asked, annoyance in her voice.

"Um, no not really." She sighed.

"Go on." She motioned with her hand.

"I have to leave the band." The room shared a collective gasp. "Um, well, Annabeth never really like the band, and I plan on proposing to her next week, and I thought leaving would be a good gesture..." Steph sighed again, more disappointment in her voice.

"Alright, let's go talk about your contract. As for the rest of you, figure out who's singing." She and Percy left the room, leaving just the three of them.

"Nico, you can sing. You'll take over Percy's position." Jason declared, Leo and Nico nodding in agreement. Nico took out his phone again and began to text WIll back.

"Listen," he typed "my life is going fucking insane right now, so can you meet me at my apartment in LA at 6:45?" He sent the message, still avoiding eye contact with his bandmates. His phone jingled again and he saw WIll's reply.

"Sure, what's your address?" Nico began to type.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos on the last part! I decided that I wasn't quite finished with the idea. Remember to follow my tumblr, farewellpercy!


	3. Chapter 3

Will read the address again. 8C, 367 West Janus Blv. He was definitely at Nico di Angelo's apartment. He read the second line. Let yourself in. He twisted the silver doorknob, opening the gray door to Nico's apartment. He hung up his jacket in Nico's coat room (yes, room) and traveled down the short hallway to find Nico. His place was dark, the only light coming from the scarce windows. Finally Will found Nico.  
Nico was in his living room. His eyes were red from crying, and his prosthetic was flung across the floor. Nico leaned against his couch like a rag doll. He glanced at Will, then continued to stare at the wall. His eyes started to droop, and he spoke up.  
"My band is breaking up," He whispered. His voice had become gravelly from the crying. Will sat down next to him and put an arm around Nico's shoulder.   
"I'm so sorry, Nico. Are, are you okay?" Nico turned his head to face Will's. He shook his head, starting to tear up some more.  
"No, I'm really not," He wiped away his tears with his sleeve.  
"So, why did you breakup? Did you have a fight?" Nico shook his head again, his chocolate locks covering his eyes slightly.  
"No, it's just..." Nico met Will's pale eyes. "My cousin, Percy quit, the band for his girlfriend, and I know the rest of them are going to leave after him. I, I don't know what to do after it's gone." He started to sob again, pressing his face into Will's shirt. Nico began to grip the fabric tightly, as if Will would disappear if he didn't anchor him there. Will put a hand on Nico's dark curls, stroking slightly. Will felt Nico's body raise with his breaths, until Nico finally sat up.  
"I'm sorry I'm so emotional about this, but, my band has been my only real family since my sister died. My dad cares about me, but I don't think he actually likes to be, I don't know, with me. But my band never was like that. They actually wanted me to be with them. And all I want..." Nico paused for a second. "All I want is to belong somewhere."   
"Shhhh, shhhhh, you're okay, Nico. It'll be okay." Will had dealt with panic attacks before at the hospital, Nico's no different. But Will felt bad about it, because this was the tactic he used on every metal breakdown he came across. But Nico seemed to be responding to the technique and his heart rate was slowing down. He lifted himself onto the couch using his arms and leg, and Will followed.   
“I guess I have to tell you what’s going with the whole kiss thingy,” Nico sighed, his voice returning to its bored tone.  
“Yeah, that would be nice.” Will smiled. Nico sat up straighter.  
“Alright, so a couple people got a hold of the pictures of me kissing you…” He paused, waiting for Will’s reaction, which was an attentive expression. “And they posted it, everywhere, and now Tumblr, which takes up about half of our fanbase, is qualifying it as sexual assault because I didn’t have your consent before kissing you.” He continued, waiting for Will to process what he had said.  
“Wait, why don’t they want to hear what I have to say about in?” Will asked with genuine curiosity. Nico shrugged.  
“I don’t know, they just want to bitch about something. I’m so sorry, by the way, for pulling you into this.” Nico put his face into his hands, and Will feared he was going to break down again.  
“Hey, it’s okay! I don’t mind,” Will offered. Nico looked up, and smiled slightly.  
“Thanks. I know that this kind of stuff is complicated, especially in a new relationship….” Will’s eyes widened at the word choice, and Nico’s face dropped.” Oh my god, I completely read this situation wrong, didn’t I. Fuck, I’m so stupid, I don’t mean to freak you out or anything…” Will shook his head vigorously.  
‘No, not at all! I was really wondering what this was too.” Nico exhaled and smiled again. He moved closer to Will, much more relaxed than he had been before, which alleviated Will’s earlier tension.   
“So, you’re a nurse now, huh?” Nico asked, his head cocked slightly. Will shook his head.  
“Actually, my description is ‘Nurse Practitioner’.” Nico knitted his eyebrows.  
“What’s the difference?” He said, lifting his leg onto the couch, folding it beneath him.  
“Well, a nurse practitioner is basically a doctor without the residency and PhD.” He explained, like the 200 million other times he had gotten this question. Yet with Nico, he didn’t really mind clarifying.  
“Ah. So what can’t you do as a nurse practitioner that you can as a doctor?” Nico further inquired.  
“Well, I can’t run a practice, or obviously, call myself a doctor.” Nico nodded, reaching for his prosthetic, which was still on the floor. ‘What about you? What did you want to be before you were in a band?” Will asked Nico, who was strapping his leg to his upper thigh.   
“I don’t know, I always wanted to be a musician. But if not that, probably a poet,” Nico shrugged, lifting his faux leg onto the leather couch. Will gaped.  
“A poet? Really? Never would have guessed that.” Nico gave him a sheepish grin.  
‘Poetry is a lot like song writing, you know. I do write most of our song lyrics,” Nico defended. Will was about to ask him another question when Nico’s phone buzzed with a text. He swiped a little on his phone, and then groaned. “Will, would you be okay with going on the Ellen Show?” He slowly proposed, turning his head slightly.   
“Why?” Will said, skeptically. Nico shrugged again.  
“My manager wants me to publicly apologize to you, and there was an opening on Ellen. Can you come?” Will brushed the hair out of his eyes.  
“Um, okay, sure.” Nico gave him a thankful smile and then tapped his phone several times again. After a minute, his phone vibrated again, then he focused his eyes back on Will.  
“Be here by 4:15, Thursday, okay? Now, where were we?” Nico grinned from double pierced ear to double pierced ear, eagerly waiting for Will to answer.  
“Poetry. And how it was alike to song writing.” Will recalled, eliciting a timid smile from Nico.  
“Ah, yes, my dark pastime. I used to write a lot of poetry, probably enough to fill a book, although none of it was actually good.” Nico admitted, running his hands along his legs.  
“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad…” Will denied. Nico laughed.   
“No, it was pretty awful. I think one of the lines of one of them was ‘Chocolaty bites, oh so smooth.” This generated a laugh from Will this time.  
“Okay, that was pretty bad, but hey, you aren’t terrible now. Or I hope so for your fan’s sake.” Nico made a fake offended face and playfully slapped Will.   
The rest of the night went on like that, questions and answers, inquiries and explanations, until 11:30 rolled around and Will remembered he had a 5 AM shift at the hospital the next morning, and he grabbed his coat.  
“Remember, Thursday, 4:15. Don’t be late!” Nico reminded as Will opened the door. Will beamed.  
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the support, guys! Also, I hate writing build up and love to write fluff, therefore, this chapter. And for all of you artist types, I would love to see your punk rock!Nico, so submit to me on my tumblr, farewellpercy!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long!

 

It was Wednesday, a day before Nico was supposed to appear on the Ellen Show. He probably should be reviewing the talking points Steph had given him, but instead he was mindlessly searching Tumblr.

 

Occasionally Nico liked to browse the website when he was bored and had nothing better to do. He liked to search his name and look at the weird stuff he found. It was really entertaining, actually, seeing some of the “fancasts”(whatever the fuck THAT was) of himself, reading weird fanfics of him having sex with other bandmates, and listening to some of the strange remixes of their music.

 

However, now the posts covering his tag were attacking him on his actions at the signing. One post read “TUMBLR PSA: BOYCOTT THE BLEEDING ANGELS. THEIR ELECTRIC VIOLINIST KISSED A FAN AT A SIGNING WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT(witnesses  here ). IT IS UNACCEPTABLE THAT HE THINKS THAT HE CAN ACT THIS WAY AND WE NEED TO TEACH HIM A LESSON. MAKE SURE TO SEND HATE TO  THEIR TUMBLR AND  HIS TWITTER .”  Nico didn’t even  use his twitter. Another post just said “So fucking angry with The Bleeding Angels right now” and was tagged “smh”. Nico also noticed a post regarding his upcoming interview and telling everyone to tune into his “pitiful excuse”. Nico groaned and dropped his phone on his chest and let his arm hang off of the couch. He closed his eyes momentarily, reluctant to look at the blue website again. He stayed in that oddly still position until his phone lit up and vibrated with it’s text notificated. It was Jason.

 

Hey man, I haven’t seen you since Saturday. You okay? Jason was like a second mother. Well, third, since Nico had his stepmother. He habitually tapped the keyboard to reply ‘I’m fine, mom.’ Nico was sure that this would result in another bout of Jason’s periodical argument of “I’m sorry, Nico, for caring. You always pretend that you’re alone, but you have all of these people trying to help you, et cetera.” Even so, Nico returned to his vegetative state until his phone buzzed with what Nico was certain was Jason’s worried mother text. He picked up the phone. It was Leo.

 

Bro, we need to get together to finish the song. You now that it won’t get done unless we do it right away, right? At least it didn’t make fun of him. Nico again tapped the screen lightly, conveying  I need some time off.  Nico could practically hear Leo’s groan from across town, however, he got no response from the other, so Nico considered the discussion tabled. Unfortunately, his phone started to ring. Steph’s contact appeared on the screen.

 

“Hey, Steph.” Nico greeted, fake enthusiasm oozing from his very words.

 

“Have you gone over the talking points I sent you?” Half asleep, Nico confirmed with a murmur. “Great. Go over each one with me.” Nico lazily reached for the notecards he had scribbled  on, warm from the lamplight they had been bathing in.

 

“Okay, so for the first one I said something like “‘I had no business kissing a fan’, or something like that, and then ‘I just was excited to see him because I haven’t spoken to him in ten yea-’”

 

“Him? Who’s him? You know Will’s name, use it!” Steph interjected. Nico sighed, then started again.

 

“Right. I was just excited to see  Will because I haven’t seen  Will  ten years.” Steph huffed.

 

“Never mind, Mr. Sarcasm. I’ll check back in in two hours. Get some sleep, you sound exhausted.

 

That, Nico was. Between mental breakdowns every other night due to his failing mental health, songwriting, and now all of this kiss stress, Nico was just about ready to keel over. But he kept with it, trying to keep his mind off of all of these things, but Nico wasn’t sure how long it was going to last.

 

It had happened before. It was when he was fourteen, specifically that summer. His mother and sister were recently killed in a car crash, and his wealthy father had taken him in. He had just been amputated from a stupid accident in Capture the Flag (who even gets injured in that game?), and Nico had just met Will. Quite honestly, that summer, Will was the only thing that kept Nico from not drowning himself in the canoe lake. That summer, Nico had lost so much and it was nice to have a constant. But even Will, his constant, had left, and when the school year started again, he wasn’t able to function. His dad pulled him out and Nico got tutors instead of teachers. That was where he started playing the violin after one of them had been playing a piece on their iPods, and Nico thought it was beautiful. It was a shame he never got to play any of that kind of music anymore, but Nico tried to play it once in a while. He actually had Youtube videos of him playing classical, but they were low quality and Nico had a really bad haircut back then. 

 

Nico picked up his violin. The real one, the first one he ever owned, the one that he had dropped seventy million times, the one that he had replaced the strings on a million more, the one that he auditioned for Juilliard with. The one that he took to Juilliard on his first day. To Nico, he would never have another violin like this one. Yeah, he had his electric, and yes, he had his travel, but those would always be second best in Nico’s mind. He started to finger the notes of Sonata in A minor mindlessly, as if the notes were programmed into his fingers. His phone rang with a new text.

 

Jason.

 

Hey Nico, Leo just told me you want to quit. Care to explain? Nico really hated Leo sometimes, and his inability to ever tell the whole truth. 

 

No . He replied.  I said I needed a break . The pending symbol popped up on the screen.

Nico, I know you. You took a “break” from school in the 9th grade and never went back. Nico grimaced. Whenever Jason was angry with Nico, he would bring that up. Nico paused, then began to text.

 

Jason, I swear to fucking Christ if you bring that up again I will decapitate you. It seemed that Nico always used this reply, but Jason really pissed him off.

 

No reply. Nico happily put down his phone and closed his eyes, hoping that sleep would wash away his problems.

  
An hour and a half later, when Steph called back, it was evident that sleep did not do that. 


End file.
